Hockey equipment is conventionally transported and stored in a duffle bag. Although a duffle bag allows for compact containment of the hockey equipment, it also has the disadvantage that the individual items of equipment are stored in an unorganized fashion therein, often requiring an individual to rummage through the contents to retrieve a particular item.
Another disadvantage of the duffle bag is that perspiration moisture-laden clothing and equipment must be removed from the bag to facilitate optimal moisture evaporation and to avoid mildew formation. Once formed, mildew may cause rot, necessitating replacement of clothing or equipment items due to physical deterioration and unpleasant odour.
To expedite evaporation, individual items of clothing and equipment are often strewn about an area, leaving such an area in unsightly disarray. When re-packing the dried equipment or clothing items into the duffle bag, it is possible to unknowingly omit items or to erroneously pack the wrong items if more than one person's clothing and equipment are strewn about the same general area. When athletes are travelling on a road trip or to a tournament, they often stay in hotel rooms with inadequate space for the drying of sports equipment.
Bags and other types of carriers which open to provide a planar surface with integral pockets are known, for example, garment bags such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,342 and Canadian Patent Application No. 2,169,994. Other bags designed to hold various tools or household items are also known, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,738,547 and 5,002,401. However, these prior designs do not address the particular needs of the hockey player or other individual transporting bulky sporting equipment and clothing (hereinafter referred to simply as sports equipment).
Prior art designs have addressed the deficiencies of the conventional duffle bag style of hockey bag in attempts to facilitate moisture evaporation or to improve the organization of the contents through compartmentalization.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2,018,895 (Collins) discloses a hockey equipment bag comprising interior compartments for separating articles of clothing and equipment. The bag has two main storage compartments hingedly connected and secured together with a zipper or other closure means. However, in the opened position, although certain individual items of clothing or equipment are segregated, other items such as wet articles are combined within a compartment, requiring eventual removal for moisture evaporation to occur.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2,091,612 (Dicaire) discloses a garment bag which may be transformed into a drying device. An interior rigid frame comprising three hingedly connected sections corresponding to the two sides and the base of the bag, is integral to the interior of the bag and is surrounded by and removable from the flexible exterior envelope of the bag. Mesh pockets are attached to the rigid frame, and a hanger is supplied on one end of the frame to allow the frame to hang vertically above the ground. Articles of clothing or equipment can be separately stored in distinct pockets to allow for evaporation of moisture. Although this garment bag allows for compartmentalized storage of various articles, the frame makes the bag bulky and rigid which is a disadvantage when, for example, the bag is being transported in a vehicle which has marginally adequate space, and compression of the bag is required. Additionally, although the interior frame allows for vertical hanging above the ground, inconveniently, detachment from the flexible exterior envelope is required prior to hanging.
Canadian Patent No. 1,278,550 (Dickson et al.) discloses a storage bag intended for use in the storage or transport of hockey or football equipment, containing inner mesh pockets to readily allow ambient air to evaporate moisture from objects within the pockets. This storage bag has one main opening, similar to the top end opening of a duffle bag and differing therefrom in that the opening extends down the two end sides of the bag to the base of the bag so that the bag is hingedly openable, similar to a conventional suitcase. The bag may be hung vertically from at least one hook on an end side to allow drying of the contents contained therein. However, unless the bag is hung from a plurality of points along an end side, access to the contents when the bag is in an opened position becomes cumbersome.
Canadian Patent No. 1,275,389 (Baker) teaches a sports equipment bag which opens to a planar conformation to permit evaporative drying of equipment stored therein. The bag has a plurality of straps and pockets to retain the equipment. However, in order to hang vertically, the bag must be suspended from a plurality of points along a longitudinal edge of the bag. This design is impractical since a great deal of space is occupied in order to adequately space the hooks apart. Additionally, if an athlete is on a road trip, the reduced availability of space and hooks limits the usefulness of the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,329 (Choy) described a multi-compartmented bag which facilitates the segregation of moisture-laden and dry clothing or equipment. Water-proof compartments ensure that transfer of moisture between compartments is avoided. Disadvantageously, the contents of the compartments must be removed to allow moisture evaporation therefrom.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2,110,661 (Clement) describes an equipment bag having a removable inner mesh sack. The mesh sack is readily permeable to ambient air, thus allowing drying of the clothing or equipment contained therein, but for optimal moisture evaporation, the contents of the mesh bag would still require removal and separation. Additionally, the contents of the inner mesh bag remain unorganized, and to recover any particular object from the inner mesh sack, rummaging through the contents of the sack is required.